25 August 2014

I’ve been spiritually seeking for a number of years and one
thing that really seems to bother me is this fascination with Kundalini. I was
fascinated with these Kundalini sensations because of the orgasmic oneness and
union that accompanied them. Recently I'm also interested in working on my humanness and
cleaning up all the messes associated with that. I am less interested in
mystical states of permanent bliss or unity. The problem is that my ego/mind
has started tempting me to have Kundalini experiences and I’ve been feeling
this energy in my body (particularly in my face area), which is difficult to
avoid. When I follow this energy and try to keep my mind concentrated on it for
too long, I get panicked and it feels like my body is going to explode/die if I
continue, so instinctively I stop and try to move on. But the energy keeps
interfering with my ability to enjoy life and to live freely. This seems to be
the main thing that keeps the ego sense of me alive and well (the other thing
is probably a fear of utter despair and depression at seeing my illusions
shattered,) I recently found that if I stop trying to control these energies I
feel better.Is it better to just
let them happen or to try to stop or manage them?

Response:

Kundalini is the life force experienced as a subtle energy
running through the body and you are right in your discovery that the easiest
way to live with it is to relax and let it move as it seems to want to.Usually if you just lay down on a bed
when it starts it will shake you up for awhile as it removes stresses out of
the system and opens up stuck areas in the body, and then it stops after a few
minutes, or feels just like a quiet hum or vibration the rest of the time. It can feel blissful (but won't always)
when you let it move and cause a lot of discomfort if you contract against
it.It can also be scary when it
is intense but if you can substitute curiosity and openness for fear it will go
much better for you. It is not especially useful to concentrate on it or try to
intensify it, much better to kind of shrug it off and wonder what the energy
might be trying to clear out now (you won't often know).

It is also very useful to clean up any "messes" in
your life, practically speaking.Stress, toxic habits and relationships, stuck anger and resentment and
other divisive personal issues give the subtle body lots of issues to work out
and make energy releases, emotional upheavals and even pain more challenging in
this process. Think of kundalini as trying to make you very open and free
internally, keeping all your channels open, and having to clear out any
negativity or suffering that is in the way.

Other than "cleaning up your life," the ego, which
is just your mind identifying with your thoughts about it, needs to let go of
trying to control this or any other aspects of the spiritual process. You are
new to this process and it is here to support shifts and changes in
consciousness that will allow consciousness to awaken to itself -- there is
nothing in it for the ego, which is why resistance comes up. If you are on a spiritual
path and do regular silent sitting or meditation or even prayers of gratitude,
this will further support an awakening.If you are doing lots of energy practice, using drugs or following
shamanic, breathwork or other intense practices you may raise more energy than
you want to handle and more mental confusion along with it.You might get some value from reading
my two new books "The Kundalini Guide" and "The Awakening
Guide" that are designed to help people understand and support the
awakening process.You might
benefit from listening to the talks at www.adyashanti.org as Adya is a
wonderful teacher of awakening. This process will interfere with your
fun-loving life and ultimately demand you align yourself with the most
authentic and natural path within you.

You will learn to find peace and happiness within, but first
any beliefs and illusions that contradict what is true will be challenged until
you see them clearly enough to let them go.

The longing of the heart to know truth or know "Who I
am" or know God -- however you would phrase the longing that has drawn you
into spiritual practice -- is an important aspect of awakening.Trust that rather than your thoughts
about what it means.It is a
mystery just how we awaken and what we discover, one the mind cannot grasp.

It is rare for someone to stop this process, although
occasionally it will stop temporarily if the major stressors and preoccupations
of living become overwhelming.But
learning to understand and support it make it a lot less challenging and open
up more opportunity to find bliss and joy as the body and spirit become more
open and alive.

20 August 2014

When the energies of kundalini first arise many people do
not recognize them as an accompaniment to the process of spiritual
realization.These energies
curling up the spine or raising heat and jerks and strange body movements
sometimes occur during meditation, or following yoga or Qigong or breathwork,
and even happen spontaneously without any discernable trigger activity.Even in those who are doing practices
that encourage spiritual awakening they are often not recognized for what they
are -- the subtle energy field clearing away stress and old patterns and
opening channels for the awakening of consciousness.

Our bodies are our vehicles for consciousness and awareness
to experience itself in the flow and experiences of the human condition.The life force caught hold as we were
conceived and moves through us throughout our lives. This force is both energy
and consciousness and when we awaken spiritually it intensifies and expands and
shifts our perception and experience of what we are and how creation appears.
This shift is called awakening in non-dual circles.

It can take months and years for a kundalini process to
mature, as the energy may wind slowly through the body, rise and fall
intermittently, and flush out emotional, physical and psychic issues that have
been dormant or repressed.So it
is disruptive and frightening for some people.The fear is often because of the strangeness and the
unfamiliarity of the random movements and experiences.

Fear creates contraction and this promotes more releasing of
stress, so the sense of difficulty can be increased.I suggest if this is happening to you that you substitute
the energy of curiosity for fear, and relax into what is happening, as this can
help the releasing in the moment to pass through more quickly. Fear is just a
thought followed by energy.It
will not serve you in this process.

Although for some people kundalini awakening is primarily
gentle or energetically blissful, it can be challenging for others to accept
and live with the challenges of this process, and nearly impossible to make it
stop once the energy has opened as far as the throat chakra. Before then
stopping all energy and spiritual practices, eating root vegetables and
protein, or doing grounding practices like gardening may help the energies calm
down a bit. There can be brief energy releases that are known as prana-tattva (in yogic science) that
happen only once or rarely -- this is a release of a blockage or stress held in
the body and are not the same as kundalini arising. If the energy stops
completely it was originally not a full activation but just the preliminary
pranic releases.

If you are in the throes of this experience you may find my
booksThe Kundalini Guide or The Awakening Guide helpful as they were
written forthose who need to
understand the changes that support spiritual awakening and offer methods that
help it happen with less confusion and discomfort.Yes, awakening brings bliss and insight and an
internal sense of being love -- but for this to happen everything that is not
so peaceful needs to be released.If you have longed to know Truth or what is God or what this human
existence is about and followed spiritual practices to get there, you need to
learn to accept with equanimity the process of transformation.

07 August 2014

There are many myths associated with the awakening of
kundalini energy.Some
people expect to receive extraordinary powers, heal all illnesses, or live
eternally if they are able to stimulate the full arising of this energy. They may also think they can fly, walk through walls, and communicate usefully with other dimensions. But in
meeting with 2000 people over the years who have awakened kundalini I have
never seen these kinds of conclusions.

In a small number of people there may be the emerging of
psychic or healing capacities, but I have met psychics and healers with no known
memory of a kundalini awakening, so kundalini is not essential to these powers. I believe that certain capacities of the
brain or energy field are activated as the energy moves through them that awaken these abilities. Some people will feel a connection to their lineage, or teachers who offer helpful guidance at times, who appear other-dimensional. A few may see visions or struggle temporarily with an apparent entity, but this is rare and often related to trauma in their histories or to practicing occult arts. Those who are reported to fly have learned extreme bouncing techniques that make the body temporarily weightless in obscure yoga systems (I saw such yogis in a video once and it did not seem a very valuable talent for everyday life!)Most who discover
these periods of having new "powers" find they fade away over time.
For a few they become a new expression in their lives.

A more realistic vision of this energy is to consider the rumors as metaphor. Kundalini initiates
a healing within by clearing away the debris of false perspectives, negative
conditioning, and self-images that are illusionary.It opens the psyche to healing itself of old wounds and
relieves the body of the stressors of contraction.It makes it possible to remember your true and unconditioned
nature, the essence of which does live eternally. It annihilates the mind's preoccupation with fantasy and irrelevance. The extraordinary gift of spiritual awakening is the return
to a natural life, one that is embodied with openness and peace, and the
ability to respond to what arises without the angst and drama created by the
conditioned mind. One can become more awestuck by the beauty of simple things,
more compassionate without the entanglement of suffering, and more relaxed
about life and death. This may improve creativity, authenticity, health and
longivity. This is the freedom we call happiness or peace.

Kundalini arises in response both to energetic shifts in the
body and to a deep longing of the spirit or consciousness to know Truth or God
or simply to end personal suffering.It cannot be forced or passed on by someone else, except in rare cases
where the individual is very ripe for awakening.But energy processes, yoga, Qigong, meditation, being with
another who has awakened energy, and a sincere desire to open the heart all can
play a part in awakening by making us grace-prone (as Adyashanti has labeled
the readiness for awakening). Kundalini is said by yogis to be curled energy at the base of the spine holding
our pranic energy flows in stasis, and when it unwinds itself through the body
it triggers many changes in both the sensations and the consciousness, leading
one gradually into a transformation of perspective and functioning in the
world. The writer Stu Sovatsky, who also worked with kundalini for many years,
compares this to a second puberty. Like the first, where we begin and where we
end is unpredictable, and the process can be challenging.

If you long for spiritual realization the awakening of
kundalini is useful and probably unavoidable, whether it is a gentle or an
intense and overwheming process. To the extent you can relax and be present
with whatever it offers it will move forward into its natural conclusion.

If you need to know more you might enjoy my new books The Kundalini Guide and The Awakening Guide (av. at www.amazon.com)
where I have mapped the territory as best I can and intend to provide a vision
and support for the changes sure to come.

About Me

For over 30 years I have mentored and consulted with people in the process of kundalini awakening or spiritual emergence. I wrote "Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process" in 1990 and recently published "The Kundalini Guide" and "The Awakening Guide" for people who need support and understanding as they move into spiritual awakening.

I was a founder of the Kundalini Research Network and currently I own Shanti River Center in Ashland, Oregon.